Really fucking weird internet problems.

Whiniest Man On Earth

So, my girlfriend's computer, also connected to the same internet that I am, is no longer really functioning on the internet. Some examples:

Using the Orbitz/Expedia search engines will result in "searching" for a really long time before coming up with error messages saying the search couldn't be completed.

Trying to buy some blinds for our new apartment last night, every time she went to checkout, the computer would just stall at checkout, never loading.

Trying to post this thread from her computer wouldn't work, every time I clicked "new thread", it would just stall.

Tried to download AVG Free on her computer, and it got about 45k before just stopping.

Things I have tried:

Repairing her connection through Vista's network control panel.
Restarting, a lot.
Resetting the modem (it's one of those shitty 2wire router/modem combos) a lot.
Clearing all her private data in Firefox, thinking it was related to cookies.
Using IE. (didn't work there either)

Help?

dispatch.o

Does it work when your machine is off and her machine is the only one using the network?

Whiniest Man On Earth

Not sure, let me check. All of those things work fine on my machine when hers is on or off, though.

Whiniest Man On Earth

No, it still doesn't work when she's the only one on the network.

urahonky

Have you tried running adaware or spybot? It sounds like a spyware issue to me.

Whiniest Man On Earth

It's running Vista's malware protection, but the problem is that I can't download Adaware or Spybot or anything else, because downloads aren't working.

urahonky

defrag wrote: »

It's running Vista's malware protection, but the problem is that I can't download Adaware or Spybot or anything else, because downloads aren't working.

Burn it to a disc or put it on a flash drive. It really sounds like that issue. But I don't know vista well enough to troubleshoot further, sorry.

Whiniest Man On Earth

The other problems would be the lack of a burner/flash drive in the house.

My solution was to use a torrent to get Ad-Aware on there, it's running right now.

urahonky

You could download it on your computer, and share it... Then have her connect to your computer through the network and then run it from there. That might be easier/faster.

Whiniest Man On Earth

The basic LAN networking doesn't work either. Probably has something to do with that nightmare of a 2Wire modem we use. It worked for like a day and suddenly our computers can't see each other, hers with Vista Home and mine with XP Pro.

urahonky

Wow. Well, hopefully that works. Keep us updated.

Whiniest Man On Earth

Ran AdAware, found a possible browser hijack, quarantined everything, restarted -

still the same problems. This is eating up my days off.

Whiniest Man On Earth

Updates:

Ran AVG, nothing. Spybot, nothing. Still having all the same problems. Gmail won't load messages. It seems like any time a webpage needs to load for more than a second or so, it just shuts down. Torrents work fine, but normal http downloads don't.

dispatch.o

How are Vista's security settings?

Can you update windows?

Edit: I would disable the windows firewall entirely as a test.

Whiniest Man On Earth

Windows firewall is disabled, vista's security settings are fine. windows is totally updated.

deke55555

So, let me ask a few questions:

You have a working computer, and a broken one?

Both computers are on the same physical network? (Connected via ethernet to the same local hub or router which connects to the ISP)

Are both computers in the same workgroup and have IPs in the same range? (Probably 192.169.1.XXX?)

Can you remember anything interesting happening around the time it stopped working? (New hardware/software, lightning strike, flood, aliens)


My first guess is a problem with the physical ports or wiring which is causing you to loose packets or have some similar kind of unstable connection.

Can you change the wire between the computer and the router for one that works somewhere else?

Also try switching where it is plugged into the router. (Switch it with the working one)

PirateJon

Standard_windows_fix_004:

Delete the effected user profile. Or create a new one and try the same tasks with it.

deke55555

Skipping 003! You're a wild man.

Whiniest Man On Earth

Both computers are on the same physical network, but they don't see each other and are therefore not in the same workgroup. The working computer is running XP Pro, the non-working one Vista Home Basic. Nothing new around the time it stopped working. Tried switching wires/ports to no avail.

I'll try a new profile.

Whiniest Man On Earth

Yes, the problems still persist on a different user profile on the same computer. Am I correct in thinking that then the problem is router/modem related? This thing has been nothing but shitty ever since I hooked it up, so I wouldn't be surprised.

falsedef

Try this and see if it does anything:

start->run
"ipconfig /flushdns"

Whiniest Man On Earth

Yeah, I did that a couple times. No such luck.

falsedef

You might want to see if any net related services are disabled
Just run "services.msc"

Whiniest Man On Earth

Doesn't look like it. This problem happened suddenly, too, so I would find it really weird if it was because of something like a disabled service.

falsedef

Wait, when you say stall, do you mean the whole computer stalls, or just your connection?

You might want to try this out if you haven't already:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934430

The "firewall" in this case might be at the router level.

capnrico

The fact that your computer works fine, and hers is the only one having the issues, even when yours is completely off/disconnected from the network really makes it sound like more of a "her computer"/virus/spyware/whatever problem than a crappy modem/router problem.

Any weird processes running?

Whiniest Man On Earth

No weird processes, and nothing turning up on AdAware/Spybot/AVG either.

My computer is set in the 2wire's "DMZ Plus" mode, where it basically sits outside of the router firewall. Of course, only one computer on your router can be set this way at any given time. Fucking genius.

Also, hi, rico.

And falsedef, it's just the connection to the websites mentioned, not the whole computer. And yes, I tried everything in that article.

dispatch.o

defrag wrote: »

No weird processes, and nothing turning up on AdAware/Spybot/AVG either.

My computer is set in the 2wire's "DMZ Plus" mode, where it basically sits outside of the router firewall. Of course, only one computer on your router can be set this way at any given time. Fucking genius.

Also, hi, rico.

And falsedef, it's just the connection to the websites mentioned, not the whole computer. And yes, I tried everything in that article.

Well, it still sounds like it could be your router/firewall to me. Are you using DHCP or have you assigned IP's? You shouldn't need to set either machine outside the firewall for any reason. If you assign IP's properly you can just use port forwarding to set up any servers or torrents. I'd say disable DMZ and do things right.

Brodo Faggins

Did you try running your anti-malware programs in safe mode?

Whiniest Man On Earth

DCHP on the router. Brodo, no I haven't. I guess that's next. Will that make a big enough difference?

Dispatch, I have DMZ on the computer that works. The reason I have it set up that way is port forwarding on a 2wire modem is an absolute pain in the fucking ass.